Image: King Hussein of Jordan (on the left) and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (right) sign the Washington Agreement under the eye of President Bill Clinton on the White House lawn, July 25, 1994. Photo: SAAR YAACOV, GPO, 25/07/1994, some rights reserved.
This month in the Jewish calendar is Cheshvan, sometimes known as Marcheshvan, “bitter Cheshvan.” It became much more bitter 21 years ago, when on the night of 12 Cheshvan 5756, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated as he left a rally in Tel Aviv. He was murdered by a right-wing Jewish religious extremist.
Rabin, who had been a warrior most of his life, had in his later years become a fierce advocate for peace. His murder was a bitter event, indeed, and since that day the prospects for peace in Israel have diminished to heartbreak.
If you do not know much about Rabin’s life, here is the official biographical material from the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Israel. May his memory always be a blessing to his people, and may we someday achieve the state of peace of which he dreamed.
